Holiday Insurance

[LivinginKata]

24 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Did I say something else? You're barking up the wrong tree.

 

You said 'Unless you want to claim that one non standard experience invalidates the SOP.'

 

I say that BUPA SOP closes at 17.00 .... I say not good or professional. This is not a 'one none standard experinence'  this is BUPA's SOP.

 

You can go bark anywhere you want.

[schlog]

Emergency hotline 24/7.

Claim department only in office hours. This way standard also in Europe not only here. 

 

Confirmation of coverage only at claim department hours except real life-threatening cases then 24/7.

[madmax2]

14 hours ago, stevenl said:

Was that travel insurance while you were living in Thailand?

 

Very common for a hospital to ask for pre payment from foreign insurance companies, whereas with Thai companies direct payment is SOP.

 

It is not very common for Thai hospitals to ask for prepayment from foreign insurance companies,  

Only with insurance companies that are hard to collect from from ( foreign or local) do they require pre payment

That was what i was told by the bangkok hospital representative any way,If he did not know what he was talking about you could be right in your opinion, but i doubt it

[stevenl]

28 minutes ago, madmax2 said:

It is not very common for Thai hospitals to ask for prepayment from foreign insurance companies,  

Only with insurance companies that are hard to collect from from ( foreign or local) do they require pre payment

That was what i was told by the bangkok hospital representative any way,If he did not know what he was talking about you could be right in your opinion, but i doubt it

Did you ever consider that the representative did not want to embarrass him/her self by admitting this insurance company was not on their list?

 

Yes, it is common for foreign companies to pay yourself and get reimbursed later.

[steve187]

my experience of a claim on a travel insurance policy was with Columbus direct, taken out in the UK for a longish trip to Thailand, maybe 6 months. had a detached retina, choose a Bangkok eye hospital - EENT,  Columbus  appointed a local agent to deal with the claim, who settled the claim direct, i would recommend Columbus for anyone doing long term, pre existing medical condition, old person insurance, i think from memory the cost was £1 per day . 26% cash back with quidco.

 

sorry to go a little off topic, but it is travel insurance.

[macahoom]

33 minutes ago, steve187 said:

my experience of a claim on a travel insurance policy was with Columbus direct, taken out in the UK for a longish trip to Thailand, maybe 6 months. had a detached retina, choose a Bangkok eye hospital - EENT,  Columbus  appointed a local agent to deal with the claim, who settled the claim direct, i would recommend Columbus for anyone doing long term, pre existing medical condition, old person insurance, i think from memory the cost was £1 per day . 26% cash back with quidco.

 

sorry to go a little off topic, but it is travel insurance.

 

As far as I know, Columbus no longer issue travel insurance policies to expats.

[steve187]

16 minutes ago, macahoom said:

 

As far as I know, Columbus no longer issue travel insurance policies to expats.

for travel insurance UK/Thailand/UK they seem to limit cover to 185 days.

[scubascuba3]

for travel insurance UK/Thailand/UK they seem to limit cover to 185 days.

I just checked and the backpacker option goes to way more than 185 days. I was interested how long you have to be UK resident and it didn't seem to say

[ubonjoe]

A post that was a personal attack on a member has been removed. Please keep the discussion civil.

[madmax2]

3 hours ago, stevenl said:

Did you ever consider that the representative did not want to embarrass him/her self by admitting this insurance company was not on their list?

 

Yes, it is common for foreign companies to pay yourself and get reimbursed later.

No i do not believe the hospital representative was worried about embarrassing himself in any way

He was a very professional business person representing a well known hospital

If i had been insured with HBF in Australia they would have been more than happy to process the claim directly with them for me, does that answer your question to your satisfaction sport 

[madmitch]

Following a couple of posts recently, I would like to point out that travel insurance, regardless of the length of the policy, is not a replacement for health insurance. And if you buy travel insurance from the UK or any other country and you are seen as being resident in Thailand, i.e. have an annual non-imm visa, extension of stay or work permit, the travel insurers are very likely to deny any claim.

[scubascuba3]

Following a couple of posts recently, I would like to point out that travel insurance, regardless of the length of the policy, is not a replacement for health insurance. And if you buy travel insurance from the UK or any other country and you are seen as being resident in Thailand, i.e. have an annual non-imm visa, extension of stay or work permit, the travel insurers are very likely to deny any claim.

I've not seen that in any policy docs I've checked, what is very common is you need to be in the UK for 6 months in the last year

[madmax2]

6 hours ago, madmitch said:

Following a couple of posts recently, I would like to point out that travel insurance, regardless of the length of the policy, is not a replacement for health insurance. And if you buy travel insurance from the UK or any other country and you are seen as being resident in Thailand, i.e. have an annual non-imm visa, extension of stay or work permit, the travel insurers are very likely to deny any claim.

I checked that with the agent i used for my travel insurance and they told me it was not a problem and nothing was mentioned about it in the insurance company rules and regulations booklet supplied to me

The insurance company was quite happy to renew the travel insurance policy for 7 years in a row until i made a claim knowing i lived in Thailand on a retirement visa, probably would be still renewing it and pocketing my money if i had not had a stroke which i should have been covered for by their policy as i had never been ill or sick before and never spent a day in hospital in my entire life until i made the claim

 

I have kept my private health insurance up to date in Australia even though i have never claimed on it and can claim on it at any time while in Australia

5 years ago we were given a quote for my wife and myself for medical insurance here 260,000 baht a year back then, i did not bother with it and have saved 1,300,000 baht in policy fees up to now,

They would not cover me for the possibility of having another stroke anyway

I self insure, and my wife has a card to claim on, any extra costs for her like using a private hospital or specialist doctors i am quite happy to pay for

[madmitch]

1 hour ago, madmax2 said:

I checked that with the agent i used for my travel insurance and they told me it was not a problem and nothing was mentioned about it in the insurance company rules and regulations booklet supplied to me

The insurance company was quite happy to renew the travel insurance policy for 7 years in a row until i made a claim knowing i lived in Thailand on a retirement visa, probably would be still renewing it and pocketing my money if i had not had a stroke which i should have been covered for by their policy as i had never been ill or sick before and never spent a day in hospital in my entire life until i made the claim

 

I have kept my private health insurance up to date in Australia even though i have never claimed on it and can claim on it at any time while in Australia

5 years ago we were given a quote for my wife and myself for medical insurance here 260,000 baht a year back then, i did not bother with it and have saved 1,300,000 baht in policy fees up to now,

They would not cover me for the possibility of having another stroke anyway

I self insure, and my wife has a card to claim on, any extra costs for her like using a private hospital or specialist doctors i am quite happy to pay for

You checked with an agent. Agents are not insurers, they are purely a middleman and in this case they may have given bad advice.

 

Your claim was denied. They stated that it was due to your medication but they may also have denied liability on the basis that you were not travelling from your normal residence, which in this instance is Thailand.

 

You'll usually find something within the terms and conditions of an annual travel policy which will disallow overseas retirees and expats from being covered, whether it's a maximum number of days in any one trip, a clause stating that you must be a resident of your home country, a clause stating that your journey must start and end in your home country and I've even seen a clause stating you must be in your home country in order to buy or renew the annual policy. 

 

You just stated yourself that once the insurance company found out you were living in Thailand on a retirement visa they didn't renew your policy. Why? Because you would not be covered in the event of a claim, as you found out.

 

Different insurers have different wording but in the end travel insurance is just that: insurance that only takes effect when you travel away from your normal residence. 

[madmax2]

15 hours ago, madmitch said:

You checked with an agent. Agents are not insurers, they are purely a middleman and in this case they may have given bad advice.

 

Your claim was denied. They stated that it was due to your medication but they may also have denied liability on the basis that you were not travelling from your normal residence, which in this instance is Thailand.

 

You'll usually find something within the terms and conditions of an annual travel policy which will disallow overseas retirees and expats from being covered, whether it's a maximum number of days in any one trip, a clause stating that you must be a resident of your home country, a clause stating that your journey must start and end in your home country and I've even seen a clause stating you must be in your home country in order to buy or renew the annual policy. 

 

You just stated yourself that once the insurance company found out you were living in Thailand on a retirement visa they didn't renew your policy. Why? Because you would not be covered in the event of a claim, as you found out.

 

Different insurers have different wording but in the end travel insurance is just that: insurance that only takes effect when you travel away from your normal residence. 

Wrong, the insurance company would have refused to renew my policy because i had a stroke  which they should have covered

The agent (a jetset travel franchise) checked with the insurance company who assured her i was covered in my original policy which was up to date when i had the stroke 

In their policy booklet (actually a book) it states they will not cover anyone who has had a stroke for i or 2 years after the event, i am not exactly sure of the time limit as i binned the book about 5 years ago, so i did not renew it or even want to with that mob of conmen

The jetset franchises changed their insurance provider after i made a complain to them, so that shows what they think of the insurance company involved

 

Unfortunately insurance agents believe everything they are told by the insurance companies ( their employers) who they represent without thoroughly checking themselves which they should not have to do with a reputable company to  prevent any future problems, as you should know mate

 

[madmitch]

1 minute ago, madmax2 said:

Wrong, the insurance company would have refused to renew my policy because i had a stroke  which they should have covered

The agent (a jetset travel franchise) checked with the insurance company who assured her i was covered in my original policy which was up to date when i had the stroke 

In their policy booklet (actually a book) it states they will not cover anyone who has had a stroke for i or 2 years after the event, i am not exactly sure of the time limit as i binned the book about 5 years ago, so i did not renew it or even want to with that mob of conmen

The jetset franchises changed their insurance provider after i made a complain to them, so that shows what they think of the insurance company involved

 

Unfortunately insurance agents believe everything they are told by the insurance companies ( their employers) who they represent without thoroughly checking themselves which they should not have to do with a reputable company to  prevent any future problems, as you should know mate

 

Too many agents are nothing more than sales-people. Ask an insurance agent in Thailand anything about the product and you get either a blank look or a made-up-on-the-spot reply. And it's the same in many countries. I'm not sure about licensing in Australia.

 

I don't know about your particular circumstances other than you believe you were conned. You might have been, which is a sad indictment on the insurance company involved and the industry in general, though I doubt the insurance company itself would deliberately take premiums knowing you could never claim. Without reading a full policy wording then I can't comment further.

[madmax2]

4 minutes ago, madmitch said:

Too many agents are nothing more than sales-people. Ask an insurance agent in Thailand anything about the product and you get either a blank look or a made-up-on-the-spot reply. And it's the same in many countries. I'm not sure about licensing in Australia.

 

I don't know about your particular circumstances other than you believe you were conned. You might have been, which is a sad indictment on the insurance company involved and the industry in general, though I doubt the insurance company itself would deliberately take premiums knowing you could never claim. Without reading a full policy wording then I can't comment further.

Its not only me who knows i was conned, the Jetset travel franchisee does as well otherwise they would not have changed their insurance company who supplied the travel insurance policies for their clients

Probably one of these tin pot companies (PTY LTD) whose total assets are two $2 shares set up by corrupt people to cover their posteriors 

[xylophone]

Regarding the subject of travel insurance overlapping with health insurance; when I was discussing the same thing with a friend of mine about a year ago and he said that he had health insurance by taking out travel insurance by someone called "World Nomads" (I think that was the name) and he was covered this way.

 

The premiums sounded great, so I got in touch with them regarding exactly what they did cover and they were quite specific inasmuch as they said that it was purely travel insurance and that if one was living/domiciled (I can't remember for the length of time exactly) in another country, and had a health issue, then they would not cover it.

 

They stressed that this was purely travel insurance.

[Old Croc]

Correct. World Nomads have never tried to be anything other than a travel insurance company. It's clearly spelled out on their website. https://www.worldnomads.com/travel-insurance/

It's not health insurance.

 

I've used them many times because they seemed more open than others and the premiums were generally cheaper. They had special rates for older clients. I took out a one year coverage when I first came to live in Thailand because I considered I could always make a reasonable case that I was travelling.  (Luckily I've never had to make a claim at any time with anyone.)